16 - PUEBLO GRANDE MUSEUM AND THE HOO-HOOGAM KI MUSEUM

Our next stop was scheduled to be a visit to the Pueblo Grande Museum in downtown Phoenix. 

After our last stop at the Pioneer Living History Museum, we approached this one with a bit of trepidation. We were hoping it was not going to be a repeat performance...and it wasn't.

In this location, in addition to a museum building, there is a large Platform Mound dated from AD 1450.

This aerial view of the Phoenix area shows the Museum and the Platform Mound in the foreground. Along the right side is one of the many canals in Phoenix. 

The Hohokam Indians were an agricultural people living in the desert.  That required water that they did not have. 

The Salt River runs through the area and the Hohokam people dug, totally by hand, an amazing network of large, deep and long canals from the river to provide water to their crops and villages.

This was Bob. He conducted a tour that began right after we arrived. 

He was very knowledgeable and we were glad to have arrived in time for this. We learned a lot more by listening to him than if we had just wandered around by ourselves.

Platform mounds were probably both ceremonial and administrative in nature. They are dated at around AD 1450.

Near the Platform Mound is a Ballcourt. There are only a few known and excavated Ballcourts in the Southwest. This court measures 82 feet by 38 feet.

No one knows the game they played here, but the courts are all made the same. There is a small opening, probably a "goal" at each end and a clearly marked "center." The inside of the court is made of hardened soil that has the consistency of concrete.

These stone balls were found in various ballcourts. I certainly hope the game wasn't Dodge Ball.

Ballcourts were built and used from about AD 750 to 1200. There is no known reason why they stopped using them. (Maybe it was Dodge Ball!)

There were groupings of replicated pithouses...

...and an adobe compound where the Hohokam lived and built things like pottery, tools and bows and arrows.

The lower level "platform" was made of room-like cells now filled with earth. About half of the mound has been excavated and since they already know what the rest will be like, and of course, a lack of money, they don't plan on excavating any more.

As we walked around the mound, planes kept taking off from the Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport that is very close by. Vibrations from planes and, of course, traffic is detrimental to the excavated area.

In one area, rocks were visible on the base of a wall.

Inside the museum building there were some great examples of Hohokam pottery.

This is a different shaped pot, one which I have seen only among the Hohokam peoples.

This very large "olla" pot was used for cooking.

After the tour, Don talked to our guide, Bob, about other places, maybe on reservations, that we could visit. 

Bob suggested, "Hohokam Key Museum," and even gave me the address in Scottsdale. Don jotted down the museum name and I put the address in my phone so we could find it.

We got in the car and I put the address in the GPS. We followed that to the address Bob had given us and found ourselves at a Medical Center...not a Reservation museum.

Being really frustrated, I put in my iPhone, Google Maps, "Museums, Scottsdale." 

I was very surprised to see it quickly pull us dozens of museums in the Phoenix area, and near the end of the list was, "Hoo-Hoogam Ki Museum. 

We would never have expected it to be spelled that way. In addition, Bob had left a zero out of the address he gave us. 

Anyway, we finally found it, a tiny museum with some great art work.

The pillars that held up the porch overhang are from dead Saguaro cactus. 

When the large Saguaro dies the ribs inside are very heavy and very strong. We have occasionally seen furniture made out of it.

Outside was a Round House. Very early on, the natives lived in "round houses" made from local materials. These traditional houses disappeared by the 1930's. 

The framework was usually made from mesquite, cottonwood and willow. The framework was covered with arrowweed and adobe for insulation. 

They were used primarily for sleeping and escaping severe weather. Most daily activities took place outdoors.

 This was a display of basket making materials.

 There were also varying pottery styles.

There was a case with some jewelry for sale. This medallion caught my eye as I knew what it was. It was about 2-1/2 inches across and made completely of horsehair. 

You will notice the price of $390.00. That's a bargain for the work that goes into these things. I can't even imagine how long it took to make it.

A good friend of mine who is a very talented maker of pine needle baskets once made a medallion also of horsehair. She told me she nearly lost her mind before getting it done.  

In the meantime, there is a horse running around somewhere with a big bald spot in his tail.

The Superbowl is being held here on February first.  We drove down to Glendale past the Arizona University Stadium where the Superbowl will be held. 

To begin with, this stadium is not the most impressive or spectacular as far as looks go. It kind of looks like a flying saucer in need of some serious time at Weight Watchers.

 Of course they wouldn't let us drive into the parking lot, so my best pictures were from the nearby streets and the Freeway.

One of the neighbors here in the park have what they call "Happy Hour" at their rig every Friday afternoon. 

So most of the RVers nearby bring their chairs over and we sit and talk for a couple hours getting to know each other a little better. We have enjoyed this camaraderie for all three Friday's while we have been here.

We are leaving Phoenix tomorrow morning and heading about an hour or so south to Casa Grande. 

Dear friends of mine from Topeka, Kansas, Ron and Nancy Lutz, who I have known for way many more years then any of us wants to admit, are camping there. We are looking forward to spending a few days with them.

Next blog posting will be from Casa Grande.